Comet, BioAmber in Big Cellulosic Sugar Partnership: Biobased’s Hot Babes Hook Up

April 19, 2016

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Ontario, Comet Biorefining has signed an off-take agreement with bio-succinic acid producer BioAmber for cellulosic dextrose from Comet’s upcoming first commercial plant in Sarnia, Ontario. The dextrose will be produced from agricultural residues using Comet’s innovative technology.

The agreement also provides increasing shape to the development of an biobased industrial cluster in the Sarnia region of Ontario — a corn-growing region where farmers will provide agricultural residues which will be processed into industrial-grade cellulosic dextrose by Comet. In turn, BioAmber will be the offtake partner for those sugars, and use its own proprietary technology to produce biobased succinic acid and high-value derivative chemicals including 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and tetrahydrofuran (THF).

The off-take agreement also includes provisions for Comet to supply dextrose to future BioAmber manufacturing facilities and provides BioAmber with certain exclusive rights in the fields of succinic acid, BDO and THF. BioAmber itself is the subject of an historic set of off-take agreements, including those with Mitsui and Vinmar for global distribution of its renewable chemicals.

The partners also noted that Comet’s facilities can be built on a smaller scale enabling greater flexibility to locate production closer to biomass supplies and lower a region’s greenhouse gas footprint.

BioAmber investing in Comet

The companies disclosed that BioAmber had provided an equity investment in Comet in 2015 and its CEO Jean-Francois Huc is now joining Comet’s board of directors.

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We expect that some of them may be answered as soon as the first week of June, when Comet Biorefining chairman Andrew Richard addresses ABLC Feedstocks 2016. Additionally, Sandy Marshall, board chairman of Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, will make an address.

Marshall will be presenting on two studies. The first: setting up the corn stover value chain from the farm to the mill for the Comet project in Sarnia. Cost, quality, storing, delivery, and more. The second: on establishing a farm Coop, the Cellulosic Sugar Producers Co-op. Sandy worked closely with the BIC team on completing these studies and has been involved in numerous farmer meetings as well. READ MORE